Steve Mosher: A Vision of 'Hell' Brought Him to the Church (14245)

His story reveals why the New Evangelization draws its strength from the Church’s pro-life witness.

FRONT ROYAL, Va. — Steve Mosher was a rising Stanford University social researcher, schooled in the academy’s received wisdom on matters like abortion and the “right to choose,” when he was suddenly thrown off course.

It was 1980, and he was the first U.S. social scientist to receive permission to study the impact of political changes in a remote Chinese village. The Communist Party’s one-child policy was in full force, and Mosher followed village women in their third trimester of pregnancy to the local facility where forced abortions were performed.

“They were crying, begging for mercy and praying for their dying children. It’s one thing to think about abortion in the abstract, but when you see a baby at seven-months gestation, it’s a baby — truly one of us,” said Steve Mosher, now the president of the Population Research Institute, recalling that fateful moment.

“It was as if the pit of hell opened up before me. All of the rationalizations were swept away by the brute facts — the humanity of these babies and their killing. I instantly realized that an abortion was the taking of a human life, and I became pro-life.”

The struggle to make sense of human suffering brings some converts into the Church, and others turn to Rome when the values of the world leave their souls undernourished. But the pro-life movement also draws people like Mosher, who kneel before the Eucharist after a long search for the origin of goodness and truth.

While the inconvenient moral teachings of the faith fuel both theological dissent and partisan attacks against the Church, pro-life activists like Mosher are attracted to its teachings precisely because they offer a consistent and coherent defense of innocent human life against the brutal power of a culture of death.

In hindsight, he says that visit to the Chinese abortion facility forced him to abandon his casual, untested adherence to moral relativism and embark on an uncharted spiritual pilgrimage.

“On a scale of evil from 1 to 10, this was a 10. And if there is absolute evil, I concluded that there also must be a counterbalancing absolute good — or the universe would be truly mad.”

‘I Felt Drawn’

After several false starts, Mosher discovered that “if you seek good, you will find God, who is the source of all good in the universe.”

Ultimately, he found that the “only organization consistently defending the sanctity of life from conception to natural death was the Catholic Church, which had preserved the fullness of the truth. Others had abandoned parts, if not all, of it.”

In part, his spiritual quest was set in motion by the practical consequences of his groundbreaking scholarly work that documented coercive abortions in China. While some news editorials applauded his courage and intellectual independence, Mosher said the Chinese government reportedly applied extraordinary pressure on Stanford University to sever the scholar’s association with the university in 1985.

Afterward, Mosher continued to write and work at research centers. He and his wife, Vera, a cradle Catholic, had begun attending church together — after a chance visit to the California Mission of San Luis Obispo. But the scholar had yet to find his true professional vocation and felt adrift.

Then he got a call from Benedictine Father Paul Marx, the leader of Human Life International, who invited him to speak at a pro-life conference. Mosher was disinclined to accept, but there were no other pressing invitations, and so he agreed.

He was surprised to discover that the conference participants were “warm, loving and intelligent. I felt immediately drawn to them.”

Mosher became a regular presenter at HLI conferences, and Father Marx became a spiritual mentor. “He taught my wife and I natural family planning. We were older, and we used NFP to have as many children as we could.”

The Benedictine priest came to the rescue when Mosher finally signed up for a Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults class, but got fed up with what he thought was his instructor’s inadequate theology. He told the priest he was thinking of quitting the RCIA process — and the following day he received Jesuit Father John Hardon’s Catholic Catechism by overnight mail, courtesy of Father Marx.

“Steve stuck with the RCIA program and wound up teaching that class. He was on fire for the faith,” recalled Vera Mosher, who homeschooled most of their nine children.

She observed that her husband’s experience in China had an enduring impact on his reverence for the vocation of fathers. Over the years, he has drawn his children into his pro-life work, and they have all accompanied him to conferences.

“Seeing a baby aborted touched him in a profound way. He had a less-than-perfect father, but he learned about our Father in heaven and the great love and forgiveness he offers. He wanted to do better by his children, and he had the prefect role model to turn to,” she said.

Spiritual Battle

Ultimately, Mosher went to work for HLI, moving his family to a farm in the Shenandoah Valley, near the organization’s office in Front Royal, Va. His distinctive mission was to develop data-supported arguments that challenge the “myth of overpopulation, expose human-rights abuses committed in population-control programs and make the case that people are the world’s greatest resource.”

While Moshser’s decision to engage in full-time pro-life work would have been unthinkable back in the 1970s, when he embarked on his academic career at Stanford, the social researcher has never looked back.

“He has said more than once, ‘What does it profit a man to gain his Ph.D. and lose his immortal soul.’ He really believes that. He went in a different direction because God was leading him there,” observed Vera Mosher.

Joel Bockrath, the executive vice president of PRI who has worked with Mosher since 2005, has witnessed the strong spiritual foundations of his pro-life work.

“People who get in touch with PRI recognize that Steve has a strong spiritual formation driving his activity,” Bockrath said. “Many of them have arrived at the same point in the battle between good and evil.”

“The question is: How do you engage grace to fight the fight that God wants us to fight? The heart of that is love; you can’t do anything like that without love,” said Bockrath.

It was a blow when Father Marx died in March 2010, but Mosher believes that his mentor “had a holy death. He had not been able to speak or move during that time, but in his last moment in the hospital room, he sat up and raised his arms and said, ‘Take me home.’”

As Mosher continues his pro-life work, speaking at conferences and working with affiliated groups around the U.S. and in 30 countries, he often ponders how that glimpse of “hell” in China led him to the pro-life movement and the Catholic Church — and the lessons he has learned from inspirational leaders like Father Marx.

“I have Father Marx’s picture on my bedroom dresser,” said Mosher. “His is the first face I see when I get up, and he asks me, What will you do for the babies today?”

My friend referred me to this article but it is not the same person as this guy is a religious nut.

Posted by Judith Horton on Tuesday, Apr 23, 2013 1:53 PM (EDT):

I recall seeing a PBS special about Mosher’s discoveries of forced abortion in China. It propelled me into pro-life work and later bearing my beautiful daughter with Down syndrome, and later, like Mosher, to embrace the Catholic Church because it is the one voice that rings out clear and true in the garbled chatter that debates women’s right to kill their babies vs. those babies’ right to live.

Posted by AnaarGul on Friday, Nov 2, 2012 2:48 PM (EDT):

@Jan Schroeder : That’s incorrect. Not only are Julia Youn’s ‘visions’ not approved by the Vatican yet, they are actually unapproved. That’s different than in other instances, Our Lady of Akita, for example. Sr. Agnes Sasagawa reported Marian apparitions in 1973, and was still alive in 1988 when then Joseph Ratzinger received the pastoral letter about it. He did not affirm the apparitions, but he did say there ‘there are no objections to the conclusions of the pastoral letter.’ That’s quite different, indeed, from the case of Julia Youn, where the Vatican has issued a stern warning to Julia Youn and her followers. Even visiting Ms. Youn’s webpage, it seems most obvious to me that she’s a phony and doing grave damage.

My response to Maria S. It’s my understanding Julia in South Korea is not approved by the catholic church"yet” because she is still an active visionary. That if it stops or she passes they then investigate it and eventually approve it through intense testimonies etc.

Posted by Mrs. Sandi Kaufman on Tuesday, Jan 31, 2012 1:46 PM (EDT):

I agree with Tom Warner: Please Steve, write a biography of Father Marx. God continue to bless you in your work.

Posted by Bob S. in NC on Monday, Jan 30, 2012 12:18 AM (EDT):

I’m a long-time supporter of PRI and Steve. I’ve never met him personally but, surprisingly, he has sent me post cards occasionally from places, often overseas like Russia, where he gives speeches. He’s a faithful steward, a good warrior, an articulate defender of the faith and humanity. God bless him and all like him!

Posted by alicia g. mendiola on Saturday, Jan 28, 2012 3:09 AM (EDT):

I thank God for choosing again a well educated person to work in His vineyard because he has the capability, the availability and the resources. He is the ‘rich man’ who finally said Yes and followed JESUS.

Posted by Nancy D. on Thursday, Jan 26, 2012 2:20 AM (EDT):

When I commented on a different blog on this website, I got a notice that my comment was to be moderated because it appeared to be spam. Can you let me know if this comment is also coming up as spam? Thank you.

Posted by maria sauceda on Sunday, Jan 22, 2012 1:54 PM (EDT):

To the gentleman who wrote about Julia Kim from Naju.
I understand the visionary is not approved by the Catholic Church.

Peace of Christ, Maria

Posted by ML on Saturday, Jan 21, 2012 8:20 PM (EDT):

Beautiful testimony! There is so much education that needs to happen in this world regarding the truth about abortion. May God bless him on his journey!

Posted by Jan Schroeder on Saturday, Jan 21, 2012 7:39 PM (EDT):

Wonderful conversion story. Brought tears to my eyes. God bless you in all you do!

Posted by J on Saturday, Jan 21, 2012 7:15 PM (EDT):

I attended my first Right to Life March in Dallas, Texas today. It was long overdue. I tried to get members of my family to join me. Finally I had to attend alone. But I did not feel alone. I knew and know that this is God’s work. I will no longer stand on the sidelines while others fight for what is right! Your article and this brave man’s story reinforces my commitment to stay the course.

Posted by Mary Weaver Mann on Saturday, Jan 21, 2012 5:21 PM (EDT):

Great post, Teresa. Steve is the one who publicized the 400 MILLION abortions in China: (PRI investigations have repeatedly shown that the UNFPA is complicit in a policy that is carried out by means of forced abortions and forced sterilizations, and which has eliminated some 400 million Chinese. SOURCE Population Research Institute)

Posted by Mary Weaver Mann on Saturday, Jan 21, 2012 4:00 PM (EDT):

Great post, Teresa. Steve and is the one to publicize the 400 MILLION abortions in China:Mosher’s analysis of world population trends stands in contradiction to the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) report on The State of World Population 2010, which Mosher contends is misleading. Further U.S. funding of the UNFPA is presently in jeopardy because of UN population control agency’s continued involvement in China’s coercive one-child policy. PRI investigations have repeatedly shown that the UNFPA is complicit in a policy that is carried out by means of forced abortions and forced sterilizations, and which has eliminated some 400 million Chinese. SOURCE Population Research Institute Let’s all send this NCR article and her comment to the Washington Times, and W.Post and our local papers, and see if it will wake anyone else up? Here are some contacts to get you started:News@washingtontimesmail.com, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Posted by Barb on Saturday, Jan 21, 2012 1:34 PM (EDT):

The leftist feminists only cry fowl when it suits them, Teresa. Instead of feminism we must all be crusaders for Christ. Thank you, Steve, for your witness.

Posted by Teresa on Saturday, Jan 21, 2012 7:09 AM (EDT):

Where were the international and domestic womans rights advocates here? Where is the mothers without borders intervention assistance? Hillary? Is it so comlicated to stand up for womans rights here? These woman wanted their babies? And a male oriented govt said no..kill them? Excuse me? What new brand of hypocrisy hell is this? Womans rights fellow feminists? Crying and screamng for help? What genocide of womans rights is this? Do you see the tryanny here? Why the silence? Pro choice what? We delude ourselves for what reason?
We stand by silently, as feminists, while the actual and living rights of our sisters in China are massacred? Along with their children?
Made in China by men? Or is this ill-willness made and supported in America? By woman…against woman??

Now it’s time for you ,Steve, to write a biography of Father Paul Marx.

Viva Cristo Rey.

TW

Posted by Michelle Roy on Friday, Jan 20, 2012 10:51 PM (EDT):

Bravo Steven Mosher, for your work. I have heard you speak often on Ave Maria Radio (Ann Arbor, Michigan) and I always get so much from what you say. God is so good. He knows who to choose to work for him! You are a wonderful voice for life. May God continue to bless your work!

Posted by questing on Friday, Jan 20, 2012 8:16 PM (EDT):

Let us be bold in evangelizing those in error. An invitation to return to the Church and the Sacraments. Reconciliation and Eucharist, we need to hear more of this, our faith calls us to a Divine DO!

Posted by Buffers T on Friday, Jan 20, 2012 7:18 PM (EDT):

My neighbor is from China. She had two little boys, then a few months ago, she had a daughter. I thank God, every time I see them outside, that they were born in America, and NOT in a remote Chinese village!

Posted by anna lisa on Friday, Jan 20, 2012 6:25 PM (EDT):

It may be an evil age, but examples like this show us that the Holy Spirit is working powerfully.
Fr.Paul Marx was a friend of my family. I listened raptly to his facts and figures at the dining room table when I was a kid (he told us that abortion would create economic havoc in this country). His message had a profound effect upon me. Though I was a bit worldly as a teen, I went on to embrace my faith in a more profound way and had eight beautiful children. The pro-life message has converted many!

Posted by Roy S. Tenn on Friday, Jan 20, 2012 5:29 PM (EDT):

I was totally overwhelmed by this report taken from the National Catholic Register on the work of Steve Mosher & his wife Vera, the parents of nine children following Steve’s visit to China where he was horrified by his eye witness account of the weeping Chinese women who were forced to abort their babies while they were in their third trimester in a remote village in China that manifested in his mind what living Hell was like, and the experience of which made him become a Catholic, and founded the Population Research Institute.

Now I can fully understand why God is using Julia Kim at Naju in South Korea as a victim soul for an end to abortion.

Posted by Patrick on Friday, Jan 20, 2012 3:49 PM (EDT):

Wow ! The Lord is truly wonderful. What a beautiful conversion story. Praise and Glory to God.

Posted by TRS on Friday, Jan 20, 2012 2:11 PM (EDT):

This is a wonderful story… and a reminder to all of us to reach out to - and fully support potential converts to the Church as Fr. Marx did.
How many of our parishes/ parishioners are equipped with the proper theological defenses to help save those who are seeking the truth?

Posted by Ted St. Martin on Friday, Jan 20, 2012 11:26 AM (EDT):

If a person is honestly seeking the truth…that person will always
find it in the Catholic Church!

Posted by BOULETBOULET on Friday, Jan 20, 2012 11:11 AM (EDT):

This man and his wife have done so much good in a hostile world. May God continue to bless Steve and Vera Mosher. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! for your devotion and example for the rest of us!!

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